ArticleCell discovery2020
The pericyte connectome: spatial precision of neurovascular coupling is driven by selective connectivity maps of pericytes and endothelial cells and is disrupted in diabetes.
Article in Cell discovery, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 74 papers.
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Who cites it
74 citing papers in PubMed, 100 citations in OpenAlex.
- Early disruptions in brain capillary blood flow control in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.The Journal of general physiology · 2026Article
- Pericyte loss and endothelial activation define distinct vascular states in cerebral small vessel disease.Acta neuropathologica · 2026Article
- Detection of Retinal Neurovascular Coupling During Light Adaptation Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography: A Pilot Study.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Degeneration of Interpericyte Tunneling Nanotubes Can Occur in the Absence of Pericyte Loss in Diabetic Retina Disease.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2026Article
- Skin capillary endothelial cells form a network of spatiotemporally conserved CaProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- A pericyte chloride clamp mechanism governs capillary control of cerebral blood flow.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Cerebral capillary computation.American journal of physiology. Cell physiology · 2026Review
- Blood flow patterns in mice are regulated by interpericyte tunneling nanotubes connecting functionally-opposite neuronal areas.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Article
- Sympathetic Stress and Sleep Loss in Diabetic Retinopathy: Links to Retinal Blood-Flow Control.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Skin capillary endothelial cells form a network of spatiotemporally conserved CabioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Vascular Destabilization and Pericyte Detachment are Mediated by hIAPP Aggregation in Transgenic Mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The Emerging Role of Endothelial Ion Channels in the Control of Human Microcirculation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Neurovascular Signaling at the Gliovascular Interface: From Flow Regulation to Cognitive Energy Coupling.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- The stem cell within the vessel wall: multipotent pericytes modulating β-cell function and diabetic complications.Stem cell research & therapy · 2025Review
- Eppur si muove: the dynamic brain pericyte.Fluids and barriers of the CNS · 2025Review
- A neurobiology perspective on the assembly of retinal vasculature from 2D to 3D.Current opinion in neurobiology · 2025Review
- Pericytes in the optic nerve head.Progress in retinal and eye research · 2025Review
- Pericyte and Endothelial Cell Responses within Murine Cerebral Capillaries After Blood Flow Cessation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Pericyte Electrical Signalling and Brain Haemodynamics.Basic & clinical pharmacology & toxicology · 2025Review
14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Functional hyperemia, or the matching of blood flow with activity, directs oxygen and nutrients to regionally firing neurons. The mechanisms responsible for this spatial accuracy remain unclear but are critical for brain function and establish the diagnostic resolution of BOLD-fMRI. Here, we described a mosaic of pericytes, the vasomotor capillary cells in the living retina. We then tested whether this net of pericytes and surrounding neuroglia predicted a connectivity map in response to sensory stimuli. Surprisingly, we found that these connections were not only selective across cell types, but also highly asymmetric spatially. First, pericytes connected predominantly to other neighboring pericytes and endothelial cells, and less to arteriolar smooth muscle cells, and not to surrounding neurons or glia. Second, focal, but not global stimulation evoked a directional vasomotor response by strengthening connections along the feeding vascular branch. This activity required local NO signaling and occurred by means of direct coupling via gap junctions. By contrast, bath application of NO or diabetes, a common microvascular pathology, not only weakened the vascular signaling but also abolished its directionality. We conclude that the exclusivity of neurovascular interactions may thus establish spatial accuracy of blood delivery with the precision of the neuronal receptive field size, and is disrupted early in diabetes.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.